Take Five
For other uses, see Take Five (disambiguation). "Take Five" Single by The Dave Brubeck Quartet from the album Time Out B-side Blue Rondo à la Turk Released September 21, 1959; re-released May 22, 1961 Format 7" 45rpm Recorded July 1, 1959 CBS 30th Street Studio, New York Genre West Coast cool jazz Length 2:55 (single version) 5:28 (album version) Label Columbia Writer(s) Paul Desmond (composer) Producer(s) Teo Macero The Dave Brubeck Quartet singles chronology "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia" (1958) "Take Five" (1959) "Camptown Races / Short'nin' Bread" (1959) "Take Five" is a jazz piece composed by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio in New York City on July 1, 1959,1 fully two years later it became an unlikely hit and the biggest-selling jazz single ever.2 Included in numerous movie and television soundtracks, it still receives significant radio play. "Take Five" was for several years during the early 1960s the theme music for the NBC Today program, the opening bars being played half a dozen times or more each day. Written in the key of E-flat minor, it is known for its distinctive two-chord3 piano vamp; catchy blues-scale saxophone melody; inventive, jolting drum solo;4 and use of the unusual quintuple (5 4) time, from which its name is derived.5 Brubeck drew inspiration for this style of music during a U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia, where he observed a group of Turkish street musicians performing a traditional folk song with supposedly Bulgarian influences that was played in 9 8 time (traditionally called "Bulgarian meter"), rarely used in Western music. After learning from native symphony musicians about the form, Brubeck was inspired to create an album that deviated from the usual 4 4 time of jazz and experimented with the exotic styles he had experienced abroad.6 Released as a single initially on September 21, 1959, the chart potential of "Take Five" was fulfilled only after its re-release in May 1961, reaching #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 9 that year and #5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart three weeks later.7 The single is a different recording than the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.8 The piece was also chosen to promote Columbia's ill-fated attempt to introduce 7" 33 1/3 RPM stereo singles into the marketplace, in 1959. Along with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", it was pressed in very small numbers as part of a promotional set of records sent to DJs in late 1959. "Take Five" was first played by The Dave Brubeck Quartet to a live audience at the Village Gate nightclub in New York City in 1959date?. Over the next 50 years it was re-recorded many times, and was often used by the group to close concerts: each member would in turn, upon completing his solo, stop playing and leave the stage à la Haydn's Farewell Symphony until only the drummer remained (as "Take Five" had been written to feature Joe Morello's mastery of 5 4 time).91011 Some of the many cover versions feature lyrics co-written by Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola, including a 1961 live recording sung by Carmen McRae backed by the Quartet. Al Jarreau performed an unusual scat version of the song in Germany in 1976. Desmond, upon his death in 1977, left the rights to royalties for performances of his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,1213 which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 per year.14 Personnel Dave Brubeck – piano Paul Desmond – alto saxophone Eugene Wright – bass Joe Morello – drums Cover versions 1961 – Carmen McRae (Take Five Live album) 1962 – Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund 1962 – French singer Richard Anthony ("Ne boude pas") 1963 – Antonio Diaz "Chocolate" Mena (Eso Es Latin Jazz ... Man!) 1963 – Davy Graham ("The Guitar Player") 1963 – Bill Justis ("Alley Cat/Green Onions; Bill Justis Plays 12 Big Instrumental Hits") 1965 – Marilyn Maye ("Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye") 1966 - Persian musician & singer Farhad Mehrad 1967 – Trudy Pitts (Introducing The Fabulous Trudy Pitts) 1968 – Val Bennett (The Russians Are Coming) - reggae version of "Take Five" sometime before 1969 – Romanian singer Gigi Marga (retitled "Ritmuri noi" – "New rhythms", accompaniment by Cornel Popescu band)15 1973 – Chet Atkins 1974 – Augustus Pablo ("Ital Dub") ("The Big Rip Off") 1977 – Al Jarreau (Look to the Rainbow) 1979 – George Benson (Take Five) 1983 – Quincy Jones (Take Five) 1985 – Tito Puente & George Shearing LP Mambo Diablo (Take Five) Grammy Winner 1986 – George Benson (Live from Montreux) 1987 – Lawndale ("Take Five" – medley with Whole Lotta Love). (Sasquatch Rock, SST Records)16 1991 – Acoustic Alchemy (Reference Point)17 1992 – Grover Washington, Jr. (Take Five (Take Another Five)) 1994 – Jazz Jamaica All Stars (Take Five) 1996 – The Specials ("Take Five") 1996 – Moe Koffman ("Take Five") (Devil's Brew album) 1997 – Aziza Mustafa Zadeh ("Take Five") (Jazziza album) 1997 – Antonio Forcione & Sabina Sciubba ("Take Five") (Meet Me in London album) 1998 – Eric Singleton/'XL' 1999 – The String Cheese Incident (Carnival '99 album)18 1999 – Electronica/new-age music group Dancing Fantasy (Dancing Fantasy)19 2000 – King Tubby ("Take Five") 2002 – Rodrigo y Gabriela ("Take 5 (Foc-ing version 9)") 2002 – King Tubby ("Book of Numbers Dub"), a dub version released posthumously 2002 – Plankton, Swedish Instrumental Rock band (Plankton album) 2004 – Tahir Aydoğdu, Turkish Kanun Player (Hasret album) 2008 – Roger Kellaway (Live At The Jazz Standard) 2009 – Bugge Wesseltoft (Playing) 2010 – Stevie Wonder (at the North Sea Jazz Festival) 2011 – Eliane Elias, on the "Light My Fire" album 2011 – Sachal Studios Orchestra20 2012 – Panzerballett (Tank Goodness) 2013 – Terry Disley "Brubeck vs. Guaraldi" 2013 – Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (Your Turn) 2013 – Mark Winkler & Cheryl Bentyne ("Take Five"/"Drinks on the Patio") (West Coast Cool album) 2013 – Michel Camilo ("What's Up?") 2014 – Tak Matsumoto ("Take 5", New Horizon) References 1.Jump up ^ Schudel, Matt (May 12, 2012). "Dave Brubeck, ‘Take Five,’ and his longtime collaborator credited with the jazz legend’s biggest hit". The Washington Post (Washington). 2.Jump up ^ "Dave Brubeck". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-10-29. 3.Jump up ^ E♭m / B♭m7 4.Jump up ^ Featured on the album version but not on the single. 5.Jump up ^ "Take "Time Out" for Dave Brubeck. by Andrea Canter, May 20, 2008". Jazzpolice.com. 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 6.Jump up ^ Kaplan, Fred (2009). 1959: The Year that Changed Everything. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0-470-38781-8. 7.Jump up ^ "Record Details: Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five / Blue Rondo à la Turk - Columbia - USA - 4-41479". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31. 8.Jump up ^ Soundtrack to a Century - Jazz: The Definitive Performances liner notes by Phil Schaap, producer (1999, Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia/Legacy J2K 65807) 9.Jump up ^ "Dave Brubeck". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2015-05-16. 10.Jump up ^ "The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2013-10-29. 11.Jump up ^ "Joe Morello dies at 82; jazz drummer for Dave Brubeck Quartet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-05-16. 12.Jump up ^ Ted GIOIA, The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire, 27/09/2012 13.Jump up ^ Gene LEES, Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White, 09/01/2001 14.Jump up ^ Doyle, Brian (2004). Spirited Men: Story, Soul & Substance. Lanham, MD: Cowley Publications. p. 90. ISBN 1-56101-258-0. 15.Jump up ^ Deda, Edmond (1968). Parada muzicii uşoare româneşti, Musical Publishing House, Bucharest. p. 17 16.Jump up ^ Foss, Richard. "Review". All Music Guide. 17.Jump up ^ "Reference Point overview". Allmusic.com. 18.Jump up ^ "The String Cheese Incident". The String Cheese Incident. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 19.Jump up ^ "Dancing Fantasy overview". Allmusic.com. 20.Jump up ^ "Take Five". Sachal Studios Orchestra. Retrieved 2011-06-09. Category:1950s jazz standards Category:Cool jazz standards Category:Jazz compositions Category:1959 songs Category:1959 singles Category:Jazz compositions in E-flat minor Category:Columbia Records singles Category:The Specials songs Category:Al Jarreau songs